It's clear the media is not where it should be in Trinidad and Tobago, so we thought, why not give them some feedback?
Send your comments on the T&T media to d.martine6@gmail.com

Friday, August 31, 2007

WINNERS AND LOSERS

It's awards time and while many of the country's well-known personalities, business leaders and nation builders will be attending the annual ceremony for the umpteenth time this evening, it will be most special for one person in particular.Six year old Priya Seeram, the youngest person ever to receive a national award, will be presented with the Hummingbird Medal (Bronze) for Gallantry.

Kudos to the Guardian and the Newsday for picking Priya's name (which had 'Child' written next to it) out of the list of 32 awardees and interviewing her cousin, whom Priya was instrumental in rescuing when she was kidnapped last year. The Guardian's headline reads "KIDNAP GIRL GETS NATIONAL AWARD", while the Newsday has "NAT'L AWARD FOR 6-YEAR-OLD GIRL".

But the Express missed the mark. Ken Gordon (who will be awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold)) features prominently on the front page, along with the names of Canon Knolly Clarke and cricketer Daren Ganga. While everyone is aware that Mr Gordon was instrumental in the newspaper's success, and Andy Johnson did a commendable job in espousing his various other achievements, Media Watch has to give the Express a failing mark for not even mentioning Priya beyond publishing the list of awardees. None of your editors thought to search the paper's archives to find out who this child was and to do a separate feature on her? Media Watch hopes this will be corrected in your Saturday edition or even the Sunday children's edition.